Pratto White Wine Cuvée – 2024

Pratto 2024 by Cà dei Frati. Late harvest, new style, significantly less residual sugar.

Pratto 2024 is the historic white wine cuvée from the Cà dei Frati winery in Lugana di Sirmione, made from a late harvest of Turbiana, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc. Not a dessert late harvest, not a sweet liqueur wine, not a classically quaffable Lugana.

Pratto 2024 is a dry white wine cuvée from the Cà dei Frati family winery on the southern shore of Lake Garda. The cuvée combines Turbiana, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc from a late harvest. In the current vintage, the Dal Cero family has almost halved the residual sugar—from 17 to 9 grams per liter. This shifts the entire wine. Where a noticeable richness once characterized the style, there is now a clearly contoured, mineral profile. The white wine cuvée has thus emerged from the shadow of sweeter late harvests. Today, it positions itself as a versatile food companion—with its full late harvest character.

Tropical fruit over a mineral framework

In the glass, the wine shows a dense straw yellow with golden reflections. The nose opens with pineapple, passion fruit, and mango. Behind that follow yellow stone fruit notes and a hint of freshly mown grass. Beneath lies a cool, almost salty minerality, as brought by the loamy-calcareous moraine soil of Lugana.

On the palate, the fruit is initially soft, almost creamy. Then the wine comes under tension: the 9 g/l residual sugar is framed by present acidity and a fine salinity. The Sauvignon Blanc brings tension, the Turbiana the substance, the Chardonnay the richness. The finish is long, vegetal-mineral, with a subtle bitter note of citrus peel.

Those expecting a lean, acid-driven Lugana in the style of a classic entry-level white wine will find the cuvée too complex and full-bodied. Nor will one find the opulent barrique style of earlier vintages here—oak barrel aging has been deliberately scaled back in recent years. The wine is not suitable for pure aperitif drinkers.

From aperitif to aged cheese

The cuvée unfolds most fully at 8 to 10 °C. Serve from a voluminous white wine glass. The glass shape is not indifferent here. A narrow Lugana stemware would stifle the tropical aromas and diminish the depth.

As a food companion, the wine plays across the entire spectrum. It pairs equally well with pan-fried char with almond butter as with grilled octopus on white beans. A porcini mushroom risotto or smoked Black Forest ham over ripe honeydew melon also benefit from its acid-fruit axis. With foie gras canapés and hearty antipasti with pickled vegetables, it shows its full range. In the cheese course, it is the natural partner for aged mountain cheese, a twelve-month aged Pecorino, or a creamy Gorgonzola dolce. The cuvée also creates a rarely successful bridge to slightly sweet Asian cuisine, such as a Thai curry with shrimp.

Good to know: Due to the late harvest, you should not drink this wine too young. One to two years of bottle aging smooth out the last bitter aftertaste. They also deepen the honey and dried fruit notes. Once opened, the cuvée, sealed in the refrigerator, will keep easily for two to three days. On the second evening, it often shows even more depth. For an in-house cross-tasting, we recommend the younger I Frati Lugana 2025 and the denser Brolettino Lugana DOC 2024 from the same house.

The historic cuvée of the Dal Cero family

The name stands for one of the oldest labels of Cà dei Frati. This cuvée was founded in the 1980s by Pietro Dal Cero. He was one of the co-founders of DOC Lugana in 1969 and significantly shaped the region's profile. Even then, the idea of late harvesting three grape varieties together was unusual. This resulted in a unique wine beyond the pure Lugana style, a flagship for a new direction for the winery.

The grapes remain on the vines well into October. These extra days concentrate aroma and extract. At the same time, the mild microclimate on the southern shore of Lake Garda prevents the acidity from being lost. Turbiana and Chardonnay are vinified in large stainless steel tanks. The Sauvignon Blanc is also aged separately in stainless steel to preserve its green freshness. Only after months of aging on the fine lees is the final cuvée created. In 2024, the family also consistently reduced the residual sugar. The goal was a clear, lean, food-friendly wine—a decision that is clearly visible in the glass.

The term "vendemmia tardiva"—late harvest—is usually associated with sweet wines in Italy. Cà dei Frati deliberately interprets it against the grain here: as a means of concentration, not sweetness. The historically high residual sugar values gave way in the latest style to a dry, mineral-driven cuvée. Those expecting the classic, slightly sweet Pratto of earlier years will find a noticeably different wine. Today, the style is much closer to a mature, full-bodied Pinot Blanc than to a sweet Italian late harvest.

Lugana itself is a distinctive appellation. Located on the southern shore of Lake Garda, spread across the provinces of Brescia and Verona, it is considered a manageable growing area with just around 2,000 hectares. The soil is characterized by glacial moraine deposits. Clay, limestone, and mineral tones retain water. They bring the salty-mineral note typical of the region to the wine. The vines benefit from a mild lake climate, which protects the acidity even in hot vintages. These conditions explain why a late-harvested wine here does not tip into broad sweetness, but rather retains an exciting, fresh depth. Turbiana, long considered a regional variant of Trebbiano and recognized as an independent variety since 2011, is the aromatic anchor of this style. It delivers dense yellow fruit notes and a chalky spice. In the cuvée, it gains richness from Chardonnay and freshness from Sauvignon Blanc.

A late harvest that belongs on the table

What fundamentally distinguishes this label from other late harvests is its self-conception. It's not about the sweet soloist for dessert. It's about the complex food companion that combines the concentration of a late harvest with the dryness of a high-class dining wine. Precisely this tension is what makes it appealing. As a host wine, it is suitable for a multi-course menu where the dishes set accents—from light to robust, from fish to cheese. The wine does not need to be changed between courses. As a gift, it appeals to wine lovers who are already familiar with the profile of Lugana. Those who want to see how far the region can be thought beyond its known varietal style will find their own answer here.

A cuvée for hosts who want to carry a wine through the entire evening—without having to switch it between appetizer and cheese.